Ray Matz learned to be quick on his feet as a street kid in Philly. As the 2008 real estate collapse approached, he knew how to change his playing field and follow his passion. Instead of running from challenges, he figured out how to skate right through. Dedicated to motivating and encouraging husbands and fathers to lead, love, and live, Ray is pursuing his passion of coaching and developing mastermind groups. He also is the author of the book, “Game Changing Dads: Get Off The Bench and Into The Game!”
Thomas Blackwell travels the world as a high demand speaker, inspiring people to become their best. He has given more than 1,000 talks and presentations to corporations, executives, entrepreneurs, sales teams, athletes, and students. He has owned and operated a successful seven-figure insurance agency with over 100 agents in three different locations. In today’s interview, he shares from his recent book, “The Liberty of Our Language Revealed: We Bring About What We Talk About.”
Regan Hillyer invested thousands of dollars in personal growth seminars, diligently applying what she learned. But change just was not happening. When her mentor asked her, “What are you doing to rewire yourself to succeed,” she found herself staring back at him blankly. Today, as founder of Regan Hillyer International, she is dedicated to helping experts uncover their true message and launch powerful personal brands, to make a big impact and build a legacy.
Jesse Cole brought a new college summer baseball franchise to Savannah with high hopes. But people stayed away in droves. In a city with a pro ball team for 90-plus years, he had to do something very different—something bananas—to get their attention. Today, as the P.T. Barnum of Baseball, he has been a performer and showman for the past decade. His Fans First Entertainment owns and operates the Gastonia Grizzlies and Savannah Bananas. His teams have welcomed more than a million fans to their ballparks.
Andy Molinsky, professor of international management and psychology at Brandeis University and author, knows that stepping outside of one’s comfort zone, both personally and culturally, is one of the hardest things people have to do. “But, you are probably going to have to step outside your comfort zone if you want to grow, learn, develop—to achieve your goals.” That is what his work is about: helping people understand the challenges, what holds them back, how they might be avoiding it, and what they can do to be more successful.
Amel headed to a meeting on her university campus in Lyon, France, to start brushing up on her English-speaking skills. She soon realized she had stumbled into a meeting for recruiting students to sell encyclopedias in the U.S. Was this the “something exciting” she had been looking for? Today, Amel is a business and marketing coach, a speaker and the founder of Tandem Nomads, a podcast show and entrepreneurship platform designed to empower expat partners and help global nomads turn their career challenges into successful portable businesses.
Thomas Dixon lost most of his abilities to remember his own life because of a car injury. Rather than accept suffering, he decided there had to be a digital solution to his loss. He envisioned an artificial mobile memory app and enlisted technical help to build it. “ME.mory” now provides him and an increasing number of users around the world with rapidly-searchable, artificial memories.
Scott Alan Turner went from being a money moron at 22 to self-made millionaire 13 years later. An early retiree, he has been debt-free since 2009. He now helps others become financial rock stars through his best-selling book, talk radio show and podcast. He's been quoted in Forbes, Money Magazine, US News & World Report and more. His books are “99-Minute Millionaire” and “Money A to Z for Children.”
Pamela Gold is a Yale University graduate, so she knows her way around books and learning. But it was a book that literally fell at her feet off a bookstore shelf that set her on a different path in life, a Path With Heart. In her current life's work, she teaches inner peace as the key to our greatest evolution and ultimately, world peace. She founded Gold Evolution and released her first book, “Find More Strength: 5 Pillars to Unlock Unlimited Power and Happiness” in 2017.
Henare Hona O’Brien was at a turning point and decided to attend a personal growth seminar. The speaker was dynamic, caring, inspirational and happy. It was clear he had achieved success, yet he was still helping people. Henare said to himself, “OK, that's my next step!” Today, he’s an intuitive coach, spiritual teacher and breakthrough trainer. He and his wife, Kate, are a top transformational couple. They produce the world’s biggest personal development summit with today’s leading thought leaders.
Jeffrey Shaw says a keen eye is not just for what one sees. It’s also for what one senses. A sought-after portrait photographer for 30+ years, he uses his honed intuition to teach entrepreneurs how to attract their ideal customers by speaking their Secret Language. He hosts the popular business podcast Creative Warriors, is a business coach for entrepreneurs, and author of the book, “LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible.”
Katie Cline never saw herself as an entrepreneur. But when the real estate bubble burst, right after she finished her MBA, she learned from personal experience how to spot a need and fill it. And she learned how to live out her values with each new successful venture. She began her career at Lockheed Martin Aerospace in communications and business development, and then in project management overseeing $15-million projects. An embryo donor, she co-created Prebornkids.com, matching donors to adoptive parents.
Simon Crowe had an early academic career that was anything but stellar. One Headmaster said he was “a bit of a waste of space.” But when an admissions counselor saw his potential, it was absolutely fundamental to how his life shaped up after that. Seeing potential in others is the driving force of his life today. Has been taking leaders on life-changing adventures into their heart and soul for nearly 15 years, helping them connect with their deepest purpose. Today he is building a school in West Africa.
Derek Champagne is founder and CEO of a full-service marketing agency The Artist Evolution and author of the bestselling book, “Don’t Buy a Duck.” Through his work, he has reviewed more than 1,000 brand audits and identified five commonalities found anything from start-ups to household brands. Any one of the five can lead to bad business decisions, but when solved, lead to meaningful traction and growth. The good news is they are easy to fix, if you know how.
Emma Nichols bought a medical dictionary with her own money as a teenager in London. “I don’t know where that idea came from. There were no doctors in my family. Back then, I didn’t even know medical writing was a thing.” She also knew she wasn’t somebody who could be told what to do. “That’s a trait that has stuck with me, probably to my advantage.” Dr. Nichols has worked in medical writing and communications for 16 years since graduating with a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Health Sciences from Emory University in Atlanta, GA
Bernie Swain had started his dream job as athletic director at a major university, when he and his wife discovered a major opportunity in an entirely new field. His wife convinced him to quit his dream job and start a lecture agency, with their headquarters being a friend’s large office closet. Nine years later The Washington Speakers Bureau lecture agency became the largest in the world.
Mark Villareal is an International best-selling author, public speaker, business coach and expert guest on talk shows. He mentors clients through professional development plans and focused coaching. He's recently launched Speaker Stardom, which books qualified elite speakers for speaking engagements. Their membership program provides tools and resources to help speakers hone their craft and skills.
Elinor Stutz heard all the reasons other girls hear about why they couldn’t do this or why it was dangerous for girls to do that. Early in life, she decided her best reply would be, “It doesn’t have to be like that!” Her achievements through ignoring negativity include writing her international best-selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building that Gets Results.”
Ryan Stewman had served his time for a state crime in the 1990, and was succeeding on the straight and narrow. Or so he thought. Unbeknownst to him, a new federal law would ensnare him and pull him off course. Today, his Hardcore Closer and Break Free Academy help Type-A business owners rapidly grow their sales through strong marketing and advertising. His no BS, ‘take action’ approach helps high income and high net worth performers make changes that unleash windfall profits for their businesses.
Teresa McCloy, a REALIFE™ speaker and coach, partners with clients to help them stop being productive and start doing what matters most to them. A recovering workaholic who was addicted to all the latest apps, software, and bestselling books on productivity, she's now passionate about helping business leaders and entrepreneurs assess their habits and execute a REALIFE™ process to take their everyday, ordinary life to something extraordinary.
Naomi Hattaway knew about being an outsider. As a home-schooled child of a bi-racial couple—before it was socially acceptable—she had to learn how to make connections, form communities and discover the unique gifts and talents she could offer. She founded I Am a Triangle, an online community with thousands of globally located members with one thing in common: they've lived around the world away from their passport countries. There are currently in-person gatherings in over 80 cities around the globe.
Michael McDonnell surprised everyone with his love of sports and active life, despite a disabling condition. “My parents saw that I was going to try everything.” At 16, a coach offered him an opportunity to coach tennisthat made perfect sense. “It was an easy choice for me to take that road.” Still a young man, he has gone from managing cystic fibrosis and diabetes to using the lessons learned to help people with their mindset and strategies to leave their job and run their own businesses full-time.
Mark Villareal tells us “the lessons we learn growing up relate to us in adulthood and can be correlated to being a leader in business,” as he talks about “Leadership Lessons from Mom.” For 35-plus years he has been building teams within organizations, establishing the right culture and leadership for long term success.
Joel Solomon grew up in a family devoted to making the world better, but it was at his dying father’s side that Joel made a crucial first step onto his own pathway toward a life that matters to future generations. Author of “The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism,” chairs Renewal Funds, a $98-million mission venture capital firm that invests in early growth-stage companies, delivering above market returns while catalyzing positive social and environmental change.
Kristen Ivy was a good student, but when her grades dropped, a teacher looked her in the eye and asked “Are you okay?” It was the first time someone was really seeing her. That instilled in her the need to see the whole person at any given moment. As executive director of messaging at Orange and the director of The Phase Project, and using child development research, she educates parents and equips them with immediately applicable, easy ways to connect with their kids, based on age and developmental phase.